| Admiralty | Nuclear Non-Proliferation | Arms/Military Expenditures | Peacekeeping | Diplomatic Relations | Study/Teaching |
| Environment | Treatises | Human Rights |
| United Nations | Int'l Court of Justice | Legal Practice/Ethics |
For society members who practice or resolve admiralty matters, this will
be an indispensable reference for handling local or conflict of laws problems
involving British admiralty law. As our American law professor population can
readily attest, teaching in rem jurisdiction to first year law students is a
daunting task. The same uneasy feeling is likely to invade the office of the
practitioner dealing with arresting a ship for the first time--especially if
there seems to be no British counsel to turn to for advice when an issue of
British law appears on the horizon. This publication can help to fill the gap
in the available literature on this very specialized subject. (This is one of
eight specialized texts on British and European Union admiralty matters
available from Lloyd's.)
The first chapter provides an in depth Introduction to the subject. The
first major part of the book contains two chapters on admiralty jurisdiction.
The other major part consists of six chapters on admiralty practice. The end
of the books contains two appendixes with FORMS (120 pages) and further
source materials.
This is the annual update of a useful statistical product of the US
government, adding data to prior editions through 1993. It is essentially a
graphic illustration of the arms imports and exports for each country of the
world. It also lists armed forces statistics, trends, arms transfers, and the
related military burdens borne by each country.
There is both good and bad news. Global military expenditures have
reportedly dropped to the level of the mid-1960s. The global arms trade has
reportedly dropped to the level of the mid-1970s. There is little room for
complacency, however. There is also a fascinating country ranking, as of
1993. The variables reported includes a wealth of information including
military expenditures, armed forces, GNP, population, expenditures per capita,
and much, much more.
This publication is a must for anyone doing research on military
expenditures, arms transfers, and the like. A brief book review cannot begin
to do this book justice, in terms of the nature and amount of information thus
made available.
This book presents a spectacular potpourri of incidents involving the
"inviolability" of the diplomatic bag (as provided for in the 1961 Vienna
Convention. It contains much more. Both the public face and private side of
diplomacy is illustrated in this compendium of events that have shaped the
application of the institution known as the diplomatic bag (or pouch).
The author has collected original correspondence, memoirs, interviews,
and anecdotes from a wide variety of sources--ranging from the era of Ivan the
Terrible (Moscow: 1557 A.D.) to Saddam Hussein--coupling them with his own
experience as the British Ambassador to various countries. The varied
vignettes are quite logically arranged in terms of categories such as coups
and disasters, pitfalls of protocol, pomp and circumstance, and the like.
Given the media attention to abuse of this diplomatic function, readers
should find this book to be fascinating reading on the strategy and subterfuge
associated with the institution of the diplomatic bag.
This book is another in the very useful series entitled
International Environmental Law and Policy Series--one which
teachers, researchers, and practitioners may consider consulting on both
global and European environmental regimes. The title reference indicates the
programme endorsed by the Ministerial Conference attended by a number of
governmental representatives at Lucerne, Switzerland in 1993--based on an
earlier conference in Warsaw.
The varied legal and economic cultures of Eastern European States
suggests that privatization, economic transformation, and regional
environmental policy are simultaneously surfacing in the midst of conflict.
Each of the new governments spawned by the breakup of the former Soviet Union
enters the field with internal institutions that are just now establishing
themselves as solid entities--among existing regional powers concerned with
the resulting impact on their environment. This is the eastern European
counterpart to the North-South "sustainable development" dilemma.
This book provides a form of firsthand knowledge of the liability regime
being considered by such States in the aftermath of the Cold War, an era which
effectively retarded their ability to move in a direction--now suddenly made
possible via privatization. The group is thus considering the environmental
policies of the advanced States, the usefulness for their respective model,
and how to assess and manage the environmental risks associated with a
potential lack of cooperation.
Executive summaries are provided for the various panels, whose work is
reported in this publication. The panel subjects included the point of view
of the private sector, OECD regulatory compliance and cleanup, identifying and
managing environmental liability during the privatization process, and
legal/policy options for the emerging CEE States.
The gist of this study is the parallel between the psychological,
institutional, and technological factors contributing to past and present
decisions to execute programs of mass murder. The victims are dehumanized;
largescale preparations effectively depreciate the sense of individual
responsibility (notwithstanding Nuremberg principles); those who are
responsible consider themselves patriots--not perpetrators. The contemporary
concern is that, despite the existence of nuclear non-proliferation treaties,
there are global trends pointing toward more outbreaks of genocidal policies.
One seeking information about the most advanced human rights system on
the globe should consider this useful, well-written, and provocative source.
It covers the essentials, including the 1953 prototype European Convention on
Human Rights, now applicable to some 350 million people.
The authors provide detailed analyses of the extensive case law that has
provided further meaning and protection to the treaty-based norms, as well as
surveying the varied institutions tasked with implementing this comparatively
successful system of human rights norms. The book opens with the full panoply
of documents, beginning with the 1953 Convention. It thus constitutes a
veritable researcher's dream, because it complies this important information
under one cover. It then proceeds to analyze the various rights, their scope,
and degree of implementation in the thoughtful discussions of each article or
section within each convention/protocol. The work of the various human rights
institutions is also covered in detail, yet with a succinctness sufficient to
avoid being caught up in too much detail to follow the basics.
This would be a useful reader for those teachers and students examining
the European system as a model for human rights programs.
This assembly of human rights treaties and related non-binding
instruments is the first English-language collection containing the relevant
documents between two covers. It is a convenient blueprint for an
international code for protecting the rights of the child. The main
author/editor is Italy's representative at the on-going UN Conference for the
Adoption of the 1989 International Convention of the Rights of the Child--and
author of the predecessor Italian-language version in 1992. That author
makes special mention of the assistance provided by ASIL member Cynthia Price
Cohen, Newsletter Editor of the Society's Human Rights Section (author of the
book's Introduction).
The central document is the UN Convention, which recently entered into
force upon receipt of the minimum number of State ratifications. Rights also
contains the report of the final session whereat the final text was adopted.
This book is particularly timely because the US is pondering the extent of its
commitment to children's rights--in the midst of the current debate between
pro-life and pro-choice advocates.
The collection is divided into three parts (and an "Addendum"). Part I
contains the basic international instruments generally relating to minors.
Part II is conveniently divided into seventeen sections, carrying sixty-five
instruments. The subdivisions include: abduction, adoption, registry, crimes
by minors, deprivation of legal capacity, disabled children, etc. Part III
consists of twenty-five humanitarian instruments regarding minors.
This publication, one of many authoritative works by a remarkable member
of the ASIL, adds another dimension to the historic human rights struggle
involving South Africa and the United Nations. It dovetails the technical
aspects of Charter interpretation with the approach taken by UN organs to what
was a long-standing enigma--a new international organization trying to coax a
prominent member into compliance with its Charter standards of achievement.
It thus chronicles the sometimes symbiotic relationship between State
sovereignty and new human rights themes spawned by world war. Could the
echoes of the UN's pre-existence be permitted to reappear, in a context where
a State member continued to claim that the UN had no business in its internal
affairs--specifically, the State policy of discrimination against a racial
group within its boundaries?
The author notes that the technical conflict has been resolved, perhaps,
as of the 50th anniversary of the organization. Yet, the road to that
resolution was fraught with many detours in terms of some more subtle policies
engaged in by a number of other UN members. Can it be said that the human
rights norms of the UN Charter play any role in a new conflict, arising after
the South African abandonment of apartheid, when ethnic cleansing is on the
rise? When the UN is just now revising its assessment of whether it should
continue its involvement in Bosnia?
This book succinctly documents the shift of from strikingly broad State sovereignty over internal affairs in favor of minimum human rights standards that now seem to bind all members of the organization.
The foreword opens this book with reference to the "conventional wisdom"
that the International Court of Justice (ICJ)--a court composed of judges from
all over the world, and dealing with matters addressable by the UN Security
Council and General Assembly--is destined to play a rather limited role in the
judicial resolution of sensitive international disputes. This limitation is,
of course, a product of a comparatively primitive system fraught with
limitations not applicable to many national courts.
This conventional perspective is perceived to be a fallacy, in the sense
that the ICJ has become a more "activist" tribunal. The Court (and its
predecessor) are characterized as moving beyond a narrow, legalistic focus by
adopting the view that the ICJ is prepared to take on more sensitive issues--having first
determined that the requisite jurisdiction via State consent
exists so that the Court can act. US President Reagan's "outrage" is cited as
a prime example of the Court's willingness to bring the Nicaragua case to
judgment, notwithstanding the US withdrawal from the Court's general
jurisdiction under the optional clause (ICJ Statute). The author does note
that the degree to which the Court is willing to offend some States, via this
willingness to execute its designed function in a charged political
atmosphere, is not yet certain. Yet, the ICJ does not appear to be prepared
to "back off," as a means of tarnishing State willingness to submit to its
compulsory jurisdiction.
The primary focus of this publication is the ICJ's jurisdiction, in
terms of exploring the somewhat symbiotic relationship between law and
politics that has touched the international legal process since its inception.
It will be seen that justiciability is a rather elastic term, with some
suggesting that few issues in International Law are in fact justiciable.
Different States thus have different perspectives about the role to be enjoyed
by the Court.
This book presents a refreshing perspective for both the novice and
experienced reader of the adjudicatory facet of international dispute
resolution. As the author points out, this study presents a new look at
Hersch Lauterpacht's 1933 classic The Function of Law in the
International Community (see Chapter 1 on previous inquiries). Any
discourse on the sometimes blurred distinction between law and politics is
going to be fascinating--as is this treatment of the subject.
UNDIG member Howard Meyer was kind enough to provide this interesting
little booklet. Two "private citizens" of the UK, residing in Midlothian and
Tweedledale, obtained private funding for its dissemination.
It contains a collection of quotes from sources--including the UN Charter, Nuremberg Principles, and publicists--on the utility of the ICJ. Its content, not copyrighted, may serve as useful fodder for members giving speeches to various groups under the UNDIG's new lecture program (described on page 2 of this Newsletter). The inside rear cover suggests dissemination to various private groups as a vehicle for spreading the word about the work of the ICJ. Copies may be obtained from the address under PUBLISHER'S INFORMATION in the last segment of Reader's Corner below.
This guide is an indispensable "partner" for practitioners who work with
foreign counsel. While these pages have reviewed texts containing lists of
lawyers, this is the first book encountered by the Editor that provides the
host of ethical considerations associated with a transnational legal practice.
It is a mixture of articles and panel discussions resulting from the 1991
Stein Institute Conference on the Internationalization of the Practice of Law
coordinated by Fordham Law School in New York.
The first five chapters address the duty of loyalty in the following
jurisdictions (in order of presentation): United States, Holland, United
Kingdom, France, and European/American comparisons. The next six chapters
cover the essentials of the following legal systems (in order of
presentation): US, UK, France, Germany, Japan, and Belgium. Following
chapters then address the duty of competence in the US, France, UK, Spain, and
Belgium--again closing with a chapter on the US/European comparison. Chapters
19 through 23 deal with client confidentiality/attorney-client privilege in
the US, Holland, Portugal, and the European Community generally. The
remaining chapters cover various transnational practice matters including
practice under the European Court of Justice procedures, discipline, a
proposed global code of ethics for lawyers, and the right of establishment.
This compilation of relevant documents is obviously quite timely, given
the subsequent 1995 UN conference which extended the NNP Treaty indefinitely.
The first of two sections is a 30-page narrative introduction by the UN
Secretary-General. The other section lists the chronology and events of major
significance to the non-proliferation process.
The publication provides an overview of the original 1970 treaty, and
the interim developments that necessitated its permanent extension (as of
1995). The key UN and International Atomic Energy Agency documents are
conveniently collected between two covers, coupled with the Secretary-General's analysis of the
need for constant attention to this threat to
international peace. The document collection includes unilateral security
assurances given by non-nuclear States to the five "legal" nuclear States, and
the treaties establishing nuclear-free zones in Latin America, the Caribbean,
and the South Pacific.
One should, of course, hope that the "permanent five" on the Security
Council--who retained the legitimate right to possess such weapons under the
NNPT--will be able to contain the ability of other States to become members of
the nuclear "club" by not signing or observing the treaty objective to control
the development, possession, and potential use of these weapons of mass
destruction.
The authors, associated with the Center for Naval Warfare Studies
(Newport, Rhode Island), address the controversy that has plagued the UN in
the 1990s over its peacekeeping role (Bosnia being under UN review as of this
Newsletter). One major problem was the attempted shift from the traditional
peacekeeping role to peacemaking. The essential question
examined in this book is whether the UN should strive for a new approach, or
retrench in terms of exercising the traditional role of maintaining the status
quo.
The various scholars thus present sixteen individual studies, collated
by the editors into one book that directly explores the vintage query: "Where
do we go from here?" The various perspectives include a rather timely chapter
(given legislation pending "On the Hill") on The Case for American Non-Participation in
International Peacekeeping (Chapter 5). One section of the
book provides five case studies--the Congo, the former Yugoslavia, Cambodia,
Somalia, and Southern Africa (Namibia & Angola). The Congo presented an
unhappy baptism by fire, not unlike the contemporary mission in Somalia
(including a search mission for one of the local military leaders). Further,
the UN has never been quite so "stretched" in terms of the number of missions
and armed forces participating in peacekeeping operations--at a time when
resources and resolve are both diminishing.
This book will be useful reading for one seeking a number of fresh
perspectives on the future of UN peacekeeping.
Professor Ratner's excellent study of the role of UN peacekeeping
operations (UNPKO) succinctly covers the spectrum of questions associated with
the timely question of "Where do we go from here?" Now that the UN itself is
undertaking a full-scale review of future peacekeeping, this book is available
at a time when scholars, teachers, and those with a general interest may
profit from digesting its fluid content.
The author traces the initial approach, the UNPKO as a stopgap measure
to preserve cease-fires--through the development as a device for implementing
political solutions to conflict. There are new challenges, however, for the
peacekeeping plan for implementing election oversight, the protection of human
rights, and rebuilding failed or failing governments. The author conveniently
dovetails the interplay of the various actors who affect the UNPKO when clouds
or cloudbursts appear on the horizon. The Cambodia scenario is thus
centerstage in this book.
This treatment is a well-written and documented discourse on how one may accurately perceive the relationship between the conceptual underpinnings of the UNPKO, and, the new paradigm that one may imagine in this UN Decade of International Law.
This would be an interesting addition to the libraries of those ASIL
members/institutions who are constantly barraged with questions about
"overseas" educational programs. This English-language publication was
compiled by Japan's Association of International Education and supervised by
the Japanese Ministry of Education, Science, and Culture. The latter's
objective is to accept 100,000 foreign students (up from the current 50,000)
for study in Japan by the twenty-first century--that is, in five short years
from now.
The book is divided into two major parts. The first is "Studying in
Japan." It dispense advice on how to gather specific information, higher
education in Japan, entrance examinations, scholarships, and training/
employment in Japanese companies. The second part provides institutional
profiles, and how to use them. That portion of the book is further divided
into geographical areas, and then the various universities within each. They
list graduate, undergraduate, and library information.
This Society publication resulted from a workshop conducted by the
International Environmental Law Interest Group at the April, 1994 Annual
Meeting of the ASIL in Washington, DC. Now that a casebook has finally been
published (International Environmental Law and World Order &
documentary supplement: West, 1994), law school curriculum committees and
International Law teachers will have resources to consider for rounding out
the international program with important discipline.
This novel and extremely useful teaching declaration is now available
for instructors wondering just what is being done by the pioneers in this
field. It consists of a half-dozen or so panel presentations on the what,
when, why, and how of teaching this fascinating subject. Those section
members who have, or are contemplating, the teaching of International
Environmental Law, MUST procure a copy of this booklet from the ASIL if they
desire information on what others are now doing in the field.
The author's objective is to prepare the reader for a variety of
circumstances involving study in China: obtaining travel documents, daily life
in China, living costs, health matters, addresses and fax numbers for
necessary services, finding parts for a computer, research and academic
environments, currency, transportation, and much more. It is a "dream come
true" for those Society members often asked about foreign study opportunities--but lacking in any
specific source to provide guidance to students and others
in need of such information.
The chapters are arranged as follows: Research, Study, and Teaching in
China (Chapter 1); Preparing for the Trip (Chapter 2); Settling In (Chapter 3--arriving, personal
relationships, housing, academic calendar, etc.); Research
(Chapter 4); Teaching (Chapter 5); Study (Chapter 6); Services Available
(Chapter 7); Leaving China (Chapter 8--booking tickets, departure tax, etc.).
The 17 appendixes contain very useful information including funding, application information, visas, selected reading/reference materials, and the relevant US/PRC treaty protocol.
This publication is the revised version of the author's lectures--given
at the Hague Academy General Course of International Law (the utmost honor in
International Law). The thrust of the book illustrates the systemic choice
between neutral rules and those which are designed to accomplish recognized
values.
The author notes that this is not a treatise, nor is it a textbook. Her
objective is not to provide a discourse on the whole of International Law.
Rather, it is to identify the major underlying themes tending to drive or to
unify the corpus of this branch of the Rule of Law. But it does not shy away
from the more difficult and unanswered facets of International Law.
The book is divided into fifteen chapters tracing the outline of the law
in a familiar manner, while emphasizing the more salient and connected
features often overlooked by the student first attempting to grasp this
seemingly amorphous subject. The work thus identifies International Law for
its process, rather than merely as a loosely-connected set of neutral rules--with no more than
dispute resolution as the object. It is well-written, and
thus provides both the experienced and the not-so-experienced professional
with a better sense of the raison d'etre of International Law.
The first version of the proposal was the result of a call for study by
the 1992 summit of the heads of State of the UN Security Council. In this
second version, the UN Secretary-General provides additional perspectives on
his peace plan. This edition carries both Agendas (1992 & revised 1995), as
well as related General Assembly resolutions and statements by the President
of the Security Council on the "debate." Of particular interest is the
December 1993 Assembly resolution requiring a comprehensive review of the
entire question of peacekeeping operations.
A companion volume, An Agenda for Development, has also
been published and should be available to interested readers by the time you
receive this review of the revised edition of Agenda for Peace.
This publication has a timely title--in view of the recently
disseminated UN decision to review its role in Bosnia. It outlines, in
narrative fashion, the UNPROFOR (peacekeeping operation UN designation) during
its various phases--roughly in yearly chunks. The March, 1994 pamphlet also
discusses the London Conference discussions seeking peace in Bosnia,
humanitarian issues, and the Security Council resolutions regarding the
required reapplication of the former Yugoslavia (Serbia and
Montenegro) to the UN.
This is a useful compendium of dates and events for anyone researching,
or generally interested in, developments in the former Yugoslavia.
![[Home]](homeicon.gif){kind=small}